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LOP Forums Rules

Instant Permanent Ban Offenses

•DO NOT create an account for the specific purpose of advertising or spamming the Forums. This includes using your username as an advertisement of any sort or linking to another wrestling website in your sig. Personal blogs are an exception to the linking rule.

•DO NOT register an account with an offensive username. As to what qualifies as offensive, if you think it might be then just don't do it, as you WILL NOT get a warning or be granted a name change.

•DO NOT post another user's private information, up to and including addresses, real names, pictures or anything else not made available on the Forum by the user in question. This is not only an LOP Forums rule but also carries with it potential legal ramifications. If said user has made this information public on the Forum previously, it's fair game... but it would be wise to use discretion and just leave things of that nature alone in general, especially as it pertains to debates/arguments/etc. This also applies to our Private Messaging system. If something is said via PM, it is not to be reposted publicly without both users' clearly expressed permission.

•DO NOT post pornography of any sort or any excessively gory/graphic images.

•DO NOT plagiarize someone else's work if you participate in the Columns Forum or LPW, be they an LOP writer or anyone else. We do check regularly and you will be caught.

•DO NOT register more than one account. If you require a name change, just ask an admin. If you're having issues logging in, contact an admin via either a user who isn't having issues or via social media. Users with multiple accounts will be IP banned. If you share a computer with another user, please let the Staff know so as to avoid being identified as a Multiple Alias Infraction (MAI). This goes double for those who have already been banned. You were banned for a reason. Signing back up under a different name is rather counterproductive and frankly moronic. Don't do it.

If you have questions about any of these rules or have been banned for violating one or more of them, you may contact LOP Forums Head Administrator, Steven Bell, via Twitter @StevenFnBell

Major Infractions : 6 Months to Permanent Ban Penalty For Violation

•Pay attention to the fact that individual Forums (such as LPW and Columns) may enforce additional rules. It is your responsibility to seek out and read these rules before participating in said Forums.

•Spam is not allowed. If you're sketchy on what Spam is, it is the advertisement of a business or website. This applies to links or advertisements in regular forum posts, signatures or your user specific homepage. If it appears that your sole intent in signing up to the Forums is to be a spammer then you will be permanently banned on your first offense, no warnings.

•Do not engage in "message flooding" (the sending of mass Private Messages). This will be treated as a Spamming.

•Don't publicly criticize LOP Forums. If you have an issue with the Forums or how they are run, please either PM an admin or see your way to the Feedback subforum, which is specifically set up for this purpose. We welcome criticism and constructive feedback but just complaining to complain achieves nothing but discouraging others to participate in the Forums. There are NO exceptions to this rule.

PRIVACY

Please note that our reach on LoP Forums only reaches so far. Be wary of whom you friend/follow/etc on social media if you wish to maintain a level of privacy between your "real life" and "Forum life". Any incidents or harassment on social media that spring from incidents/interactions on LoP Forums are to be reported to that respective social media site. Though harassment that extends from social media interaction can potentially result in the LoP Forums banning of an an offending party, LoP Forums Staff can only police LoP Forums. We cannot police Facebook, Twitter or any other outside site.

In other words, mix LoP and your real life, up to and including your social media accounts, at your own discretion.

•As mentioned in the Instant Permanent Ban Offenses, don't post personal information about other members without their permission. This includes real names, addresses, phone numbers or photos. For safety reasons, moderators will remove real names, addresses, and phone numbers at all times. If you prefer information to stay private - don't share information publicly.

•If a photo is shared publicly on the Forum, (NOT via PM), that photo will be considered public domain and is open to reposting. If you prefer a photo to stay private - don't share that photo publicly.

•As it pertains to social media, members are not allowed to take photos or personal information from another's social media profiles, nor are they allowed to discuss on the board private events of a member's life which have transpired outside of the Forums. The only exception to this is if someone personally brings up said events within the confines of LOP Forums. For example, if someone brings up their divorce in a Forum post, you can mention their divorce. If you just read it on their Facebook profile and they've made no mention of it here on the Forums, keep your mouth shut. One's private life is one's private life and is to remain so.

•Private messages are to remain private. While the contents of a PM can be reported to Staff if it contains flames or other harassment, the contents of a PM are NOT to be made public via posts, signature quote/image or any other means. Private means private.

•PLEASE NOTE that Forum moderators and administrators are only human and that some things will inevitably evade our detection. If your privacy is violated in any of the above mentioned ways, report the post in question. Otherwise, depending upon where the post in question originates, it may not be seen or acted upon. All post reports remain private to everyone except for LOP Forums Staff.

HARASSMENT/BULLYING

•Don't flame and or harass members on LoP. This includes Private Messages, pictures, videos, links, signatures and any other method eligible to the LoP Forums. This includes inflammatory statements regarding race, religion, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation or personal details of a user's real life. Note that some subforums do permit flaming, but recognize the boundaries between jestful ribbing and outright harassment. You will be given ONE warning as it pertains to this rule, just in case it was a misinterpreted joke or comment. A second violation will earn you a 6 month ban and a third will see you banned from LOP Forums permanently. Your freedom of speech is not in question, but your free reign to abuse others will be regulated. Be aware of this. Violation of these guidelines will result in disciplinary action ranging from a 6 month to a permanent ban, depending upon the severity of the violation on a case by case basis.

•If you see someone being harassed, don't hesitate to step up and report the offending poster. Bullying and abuse will not be tolerated on this board. If you see something, say something.

•Statements about politics, religion or any other hot-button topic that you disagree with are not a personal attack. If you don't wish to have your personal ideals potentially offended, we encourage you to refrain from participating in any discussion of these sorts. Note that harassment WILL be acted upon, as outlined above, but a simple difference of opinion is not harassment. It's life. If it gets personal, that's a different story. But we WILL NOT police people's right to political opinion.

•If you see another user comment/post about potentially harming themselves or others, contact the appropriate authorities and/or LOP Forums Head Administrator, Steven Bell, IMMEDIATELY. Steven may be most easily reached on Twitter @StevenFnBell

Moderate Infractions : Penalties Range From Warning to 6 Month Ban

•Don't abuse the "report a post" option. Use it only if it's for a legitimate infraction.

•Don't publicly post the URL, the site name and or a link of pro-wrestling news sites, forums or podcast networks except for those affiliated with Lords of Pain. This includes promotion or "recruiting" by way of Private Message or direct posting within signature or homepage links. Personal blog pages or podcasts are alright as long as they're not part of a larger wrestling based page. This is a LORDS OF PAIN Forum. While we don't discourage our members from enjoying other wrestling websites if they see fit, it'd be pretty foolish of us to directly allow them to be promoted.

•Don't violate any of the signature/avatar guidelines outlined below.

Signatures/Avatars

•Questionable images, as outlined in the rules above, are not allowed as signature or avatar images.

•While we have no hard and fast rule regarding the size of one's signature image, we do ask that you respect the Forum viewing experience of others and refrain from going overboard. Use of more than one signature image is NOT permitted, with the exception of "award" or "trophy" sigs given out for winning various Forums contests or achieving a Championship in LPW. Forum Staff reserves the right to ask that you resize your sig at any time and also reserve the right to disable your ability to have a signature if you do not comply.

•Please refrain from the use of gifs or videos in your signature. Small gifs are permitted for use as an avatar image.

Miscellaneous

•"Flame-baiting", as it was previously referred to, no longer exists as a punishable offense on LOP Forums, as a clear answer could never be determined as to what, exactly, it was. If someone is being rude or whatever to you, you have two options:
1) Report the post.
2) Go about your business and don't engage them further.

It's that simple. If someone is trying to pick a fight, it's up to you to make the decision whether or not to engage. If a flame war breaks out, both parties will be punished equally, no matter who "baited" whom.

•Avoid double posting. Doing so will result in a warning. Doing so again will result in deletion of the offending post. Doing so a third time will result in a 30 day ban.

•You may change your username once every three months. Please send a PM to a moderator or admin to inquire about doing so. DO NOT just sign up again under a different name or you WILL be banned under the Multiple Alias Infraction rule outlined previously.

•Don't start a thread announcing your arrival. Just start posting.

•Don't ask for PPV streams or share links to PPV streams. This will be considered spamming and you WILL be permanently banned.

•Don't post spoilers outside of specifically designated spoiler threads. The sole exception to this rule is within the Columns Forum and we ask that you include a spoiler warning within the title of any column containing them.

•If you notice a questionable post that should be brought to Staff's attention, please click the Report button. This is the triangle shaped button with an exclamation point in the middle found at the bottom of each post. As mentioned previously, reported posts are anonymous and your identity will only be known by Forum Staff. If a member of Staff is the one harassing you, please report them to another member of Staff so that the incident may be investigated and potential action taken.

•LPW is the ONLY E-fed allowed on LOP. No other ROLE-PLAYING game will be allowed on Lords of Pain Forums.

LOP Staff Rules (Violation of these rules may result in demotion or removal from Staff as well as banning)

•LoP Staff members are to stick mainly to their designated forums. Given the smaller nature of our Staff, all Staff members may take care of any basic spam, regardless of where it appears. Any Staff member may also take action if there is a serious infraction & the moderator(s) of that forum are not online. If an infraction has occurred and that forum's moderator(s) are online then let them know about it. They may or may not be already aware of the problem. Each Forum Leader is naturally most knowledgeable about their respective forums and will know the history of offenses and whether issues are ongoing, thus making them best equipped to handle any issues.

•If you take action outside of your designated forum that results in a deleted post, please use the Soft Delete feature so that those in charge of said forum may look over the offending post. Spam is an exception and may be deleted outright if you have the ability to do so.

•All infractions, warnings and bans must be noted in the Staff Forum. (Not applicable for spam, as we'd be here all day.)

•LoP Staff business stays in the Staff Forum.

•The identity of any Forum member who uses the Report Post feature is to be kept private.

•LoP Staff are not to "throw each other under the bus" as it pertains to changes in rules or decisions upon bans, infractions, etc.. If a staff member has an issue with another staff member's actions then it can be discussed privately in the Staff Forum.

•LoP Staff members are not to edit LoP members' posts, avatars, user titles or signatures with any sort of harassing remarks/images. This is tantamount to flaming and will be treated as such. Violation of this rule will result in your immediate removal from Staff.

•LoP Staff should not be snide or rude with LoP members. Flaming permitted forums or thread are an exception to this rule, though interaction SHOULD NOT be pertaining to LOP Forums business. Personal issues are personal issues and business is business. DO NOT conflate the two. Blatant bias by a Staff member against a Forums member WILL NOT be tolerated and could result in removal from Staff and/or a ban.

•LoP Staff should not engage debates with LoP members about LoP rules or moderating decisions (such as bans, warnings, rule changes, etc.). If someone has a critique about your modding and/or LoP rules outside of the designated Feedback Forum then tell them to take it to said designated Feedback Forum. That's why it exists. If they persist, report the issue to the Head Administrator for disciplinary action so as to avoid potential bias. If someone tries to pick a fight, DO NOT fight back. It's called "responsibility" and it's expected of Staff members.

•As Staff, you are held to a higher standard than "regular" forum users. As such, your penalties for violation of any of these rules will likely be more severe than those handed out to "regular" users. You acknowledge this elevated responsibility and elevated standard of expected behavior when you accept a position on Staff.

LoP Staff on Staff warnings will be judged based on a case by case basis and appropriate punishment will be determined by the severity of the infraction as well as the Staff member in question's overall history. The range of penalties include: